The Witches (1967 film)

The Witches
Italian theatrical release poster
Italian	Le streghe
Directed by	Luchino Visconti Mauro Bolognini Pier Paolo Pasolini Franco Rossi Vittorio De Sica
Screenplay by	Giuseppe Patroni Griffi Cesare Zavattini Age & Scarpelli Bernardino Zapponi Pier Paolo Pasolini Fabio Carpi Enzo Muzzi
Produced by	Dino De Laurentiis
Starring	Silvana Mangano Clint Eastwood Annie Girardot Totò Alberto Sordi
Cinematography	Giuseppe Rotunno
Edited by	Mario Serandrei Nino Baragli Giorgio Serrallonga Adriana Novelli
Music by	Piero Piccioni Ennio Morricone
Production companies	Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica Les Productions Artistes Associés
Distributed by	Dear Film (Italy) United Artists (international)
Release dates	22 February 1967 (1967-02-22) (Italy) 5 June 1968 (1968-06-05) (France) March 12, 1969 (1969-03-12) (USA)
Running time	110 minutes
Countries	Italy France
Language	Italian

The Witches (Italian: Le streghe) is a 1967 commedia all'italiana anthology film produced by Dino De Laurentiis in 1965.^[1] It consists of five comic stories about witches, directed by Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini and Vittorio De Sica. The film features Silvana Mangano; Clint Eastwood appears in the final story.^[2] It was the last film starring Totò to be released in his lifetime.

Segments[edit]

"The Witch Burned Alive"[edit]

A famous actress arrives in an Austrian chalet to spend an evening with friends. The woman is gotten drunk by the guests, and when she falls unconscious, friends remove her makeup to look at the imperfections of her face, always believed beautiful by her fans.

"Civic Spirit"[edit]

A man is wounded in a traffic accident. A woman stops the car and offers to take him to the hospital. The woman, however, only does this to pass the road traffic. When she arrives at her destination, she throws him out.

"The Earth Seen from the Moon"[edit]

This comic episode, directed by Pasolini, tells the story of a red-headed father and son, Ciancicato and Baciu Miao (Totò and Ninetto Davoli). Ciancicato has just lost his wife and wants to marry a new wife. Ciancicato finds a deaf girl among the shacks on the outskirts of Rome and makes her his bride. To buy a better house nearby, he concocts a plan for her to threaten to commit suicide (distraught by her sick children) by jumping from the Colosseum, and take a collection to save her, but she slips on a banana peel and falls, and is buried next to his former wife.

"The Sicilian Belle"[edit]

In this short episode, a Sicilian woman tells her father a man made a pass at her; he retaliates by massacring the family.

"An Evening like the Others"[edit]

Clint Eastwood is a western movie lover who does not know how to change the flat relationship with his wife. One day the character disguises himself as a gunslinger to entertain his wife, but she is not impressed and he realizes that their relationship is broken forever. In the final scene, she imagines herself as a glamorous star, walking along in an evolving series of haute couture while being ogled by a growing crowd of middle-aged businessmen. She lastly dons a magnificent gown made of multiple layers of silk, each in a vibrant shade, which she peels away layer by layer.

Cast[edit]

Crew[edit]

"The Witch Burned Alive"

"Civic Spirit"

"The Earth Seen from the Moon"

"The Sicilian Belle"

"An Evening Like the Others"

Other crew

Release[edit]

Le streghe was never released outside of Europe as United Artists bought the film when Clint Eastwood's career began to ascend. United Artists decided not to release it in theaters but instead kept it in its library vault to prevent its viewing.^[3]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Munn, Michael (1992). Clint Eastwood: Hollywood's Loner. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-86051-790-X.

External links[edit]

• Card + Videoclip "Le streghe" 1967
• The Witches at IMDb
• The Witches at AllMovie